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Phil Parkinson says he must look into why Wrexham squandered so many opportunities in Saturday's 2-0 loss to Blackburn Rovers.
The Red Dragons suffered their fourth league loss of the campaign, dropping to 17th in the Championship with 14 points from 12 games. Wrexham enjoyed 50% of the ball at Ewood Park and had seven more attempts than Blackburn, yet managed only one shot on target from 23 efforts.
Wrexham opted against bringing in a striker during the summer window, meaning both first-choice forwards started against Blackburn and leaving Parkinson with few options to influence the match from the bench as his side chased a goal. Despite the sheer number of attempts, Wrexham carved out only a handful of truly threatening chances and rarely put the Blackburn defence under serious pressure.
Wrexham in Good Positions Without Meaningful Quality
"I still felt at halftime the game was there for us, but we couldn't produce the quality we needed," Parkinson told Sports Illustrated. "We've had 23 attempts, but to only have one of those on target, we have to look at that.
"I have to credit the Blackburn defenders because they made nine or ten blocks, dealt with crosses and handled set pieces well. It was a mix of solid defending, but we just couldn't find that decisive moment to get back into the match. The game was decided by two moments. When we review the positions we got into, we found ourselves in enough good areas today to have taken something, but we didn't deliver the quality."
The loss leaves Wrexham with just three victories in their last 15 matches, stretching back to the tail end of last season, when they narrowly missed out on the playoffs by a single point. Only once in the past seven Championship seasons has a side that finished seventh gone on to place higher than 17th the following year — which is exactly where Wrexham find themselves after this latest setback.
While there were encouraging signs in the volume of chances Wrexham created at Ewood Park, they ultimately came up short once again due to a lack of cutting edge in attack. Andri Guðjohnsen, son of former Barcelona and Chelsea forward Eiður Guðjohnsen, netted both goals for Blackburn. He now has nine goals this season — three more than Kieffer Moore and Sam Smith have managed between them.
Parkinson added: "We just couldn't find that kind of moment. The frustrating thing from our perspective is we haven't tested the keeper enough. When you look at the stats — and the stats don't lie — 23 shots, one on target. There won't be many teams this weekend who have had that many attempts and not scored or at least tested the goalkeeper more. We've got to look at that.
"We need to examine the crosses that came in and the movement of the forwards. Were they that good defensively, or could we have done more? We need to analyse that, and we will."
Another significant factor is the absence of attacking talisman Josh Windass, who was almost single-handedly responsible for driving Wrexham toward the Championship playoffs last season. Windass ended the campaign with seven goals in his final eight appearances but missed the entire pre-season before picking up an ankle injury in the recent away draw at Derby County.
Any club would feel the loss of a player of his calibre. However, Wrexham spent $48 million in the summer transfer window with full knowledge of Windass's injury concerns, and perhaps should have been better equipped to manage without him this term.
Parkinson said: "Josh is that type of player, like Guðjohnsen. The moments arrive and he takes them. That's what he did for us time and again. The division is so tight. You don't watch games and think one team is far superior on the day. You watch and think it comes down to a moment of quality. Any team would miss their top scorer, but while we wait for him to return, others need to step up."